The NBA D-League’s Erie BayHawks have been purchased by the Orlando Magic and will relocate to Lakeland, Florida for the 2017-18 season the league and team announced earlier today.
Lakeland, Florida is within an hours drive of Orlando allowing the team to keep their reserve players nearby, a strategy employed in recent seasons by several NBA teams.
The BayHawks are currently in their ninth season in Erie, Pennsylvania, they had already been affiliated with the Orlando Magic since 2014. Prior to that the team was affiliated with the New York Knicks which saw Jeremy Lin spend time with the team briefly during the 2011-12 season.
The BayHawks will play in Lakeland only temporarily, a new arena in nearby Winter Haven will be constructed and the team will move there once ready.